Whale, Dolphin or Porpoise Sightings from our Coastal waterways in British Columbia. We monitor and publish numbers, species, sightings and behaviour of Cetaceans to raise public awareness, respect and enthusiasm for the protection of our coastal wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Whale Activity Increases Daily

Humpback Whales have been returning to our inner waters with daily increases in sightings of different individuals, including calves. We had a report of some Transient Bigg's Orca even attempting to attack a calf in the Sooke area. When more adults came to protect the calf, the Orca thought better of tackling these larger mammals and left the scene. Lots of Northern Resident Killer Whales have been seen at the top of Johnstone Strait and even down into Nodales Channel, while Southern Resident pods have stayed around the lower Georgia Strait and San Juans. Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been seen in some larger groups, and once again only a few Dall's and Harbour Porpoise get reported. Susan MacKay, Wild Ocean Whale Society

Boaters, please pay attention! Whales do NOT always manage to get out of your way and not only can they be injured, but so can your vessel. If you see a blow - go slow! Better yet, if you find yourself in the vicinity of these wonderful animals, put the boat into neutral or shut down entirely and enjoy watching them as you drift.

Are you the type of volunteer interested in Cetacea and mapping, who would be willing to spend some time with our growing Society network?
Our team of Volunteers continue to do a great job in making sure all your reports are mapped and published each week.
We are preparing for our first Real Time Monitoring Station. A few logistics are still being worked out prior to posting additional callouts for Volunteers to assist with the installation.

11:00 • 10-12 NRKW Orca milling, between Hanson Island and Swanson Island, Blackfish Sound. ◦A34s/A46s◦ Remained in the Sound for about an hour or two. Swimming tightly together at first and eventually spreading out. ▫ On Scene

19:50 • 1 Humpback Whales taking long dives, heading West opposite of Pocahontas Bay on Texada Island, Malaspina Strait. 6 - 5 minute dives and then, there must have been 1 long deep dive, then out of sight. ▫ Observed from Shore

18:52 • 2 Harbour Porpoise heading South off the West side of the park at Whytecliff in West Vancouver, Queen Charlotte Channel. The porpoises were travelling together initially. Then, they were travelling in the same direction but further apart (about 30 meters). They surfaced three times in a row, then dove for 2-3 minutes. This sequence occurred three times in total, except after the third sequence, I could not see them again. ▫ Observed from Shore

Ivan Ng, North Vancouver, BC

SPECIES UNSURE

Sun Aug 07 2016

08:18 • Species Unsure heading North off of Bates Beach, Georgia Strait. Multiple large blows. ▫ Second Hand

“We were really lucky,” Mouellic told CBC. “Within 15 minutes of our departure, we saw porpoises, seals, belugas and several finback whales. It was already marvelous. Then there were these two finbacks, one of which passed under the Zodiac without touching the boat.”

The “magical” encounter occurred at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers.

The director of the marine research group at GREMM, Robert Michaud, said there has been a recent increase in traffic around Cacouna, about 200 kilometres north of Quebec City, which could be having a negative impact on mothers and their offspring.

GREMM is using drones and underwater microphones to investigate their hypothesis.

For the past three days, CCS researchers have been monitoring the carcass of a small minke whale in Cape Cod Bay off North Truro. Data collected during these 72 hours shows that there is as much to be learned from the whales in death as in life.

Every day at low tide, a crowd gathers at Chanonry Point, on the northern side of the Moray Firth. They come to see the resident pod of bottlenose dolphins doing what it does best: hunting salmon. As the tide goes out, so the salmon returning to the river start to gather offshore. To hunt them, the dolphins work as a team, concentrating their quarry into a tight shoal before chasing it down and ...

South Korean Dolphin Population Slowly Recovering

Korea Bizwire

The number of indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins in the seas off Jeju Island is slowly recovering after years of steady decline, thanks to cooperation from the local fishing industry and a drop in poaching.

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